Samsung to halt global sales, exchanges of Galaxy Note7 | Reuters

SEOUL Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) said on Tuesday it will ask all global partners to stop sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note7 smartphones, further deepening the smartphone company's recall crisis.Samsung, in a statement, said it was still investigating recently reported cases of fires in new Note7 devices. "Consumers with either an original Galaxy Note7 or replacement Galaxy Note7 device should power down and stop using the device," the company said.

Samsung's decision to pull Note7s off the shelves for the second time in two months underscores the South Korean firm's struggles to fix its problems. It had already recalled 2.5 million Note7s due to faulty batteries, but the latest reports of damage on the replacement devices is raising fresh doubts about the firm's quality control abilities. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday Samsung had temporarily halted production of Note7s.

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman Elliott Kaye said in a separate statement Samsung was making the right decision by halting sales and exchanges of the device and also urged consumers to stop using all Note7s.

The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards also said consumers should stop using Note7 phones and said it will work with Samsung on future steps. (Reporting by Se Young Lee; Editing by Chris Reese and James Dalgleish)

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